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Not all feminists are equal

I-am-a-feminist

The following thoughts came to me after a recent Melbourne Free University lecture on the Future of Feminism. The insightful presentation given by Melbourne Feminist Collective’s Neda Monshat and Alexia Staker led to a fascinating discussion in the second part of the event. Two points in particular finally convinced me to write about feminism and its future, if it is to have one. ... read more

Written by Aurelien Mondon on 30-11-2011, 1 user comment

‘That’s what I love about the short form’

Irma GoldAuthor of several children’s books and currently at work on a debut novel, the stories of writer and editor Irma Gold have been published in such notables as Meanjin, Island and Going Down Swinging and she is, of course, a blogger here at Overland. Her debut collection of short fiction, Two Steps Forward is the final piece to the most excellent puzzle that is the Long Story Shorts series published by Affirm Press. Today, Gold chats with us about her process and what she’s up to now. ... read more

Written by Clare Strahan on 29-11-2011, 4 user comments

Meanland: For and against a digital avant-garde

poster_perdu_flarfOne of the more prevalent perceptions propagated by the dominant ideologies of the last few decades has been the belief in the death of the avant-garde. Ever since the ex-Leftist French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard decided to announce the arrival of a ‘postmodern condition’ by denouncing radical Marxist politics as well as artistic iconoclasm as outdated ‘grand narratives’, we have been more or less expected to view any attempt at challenging the status quo by either revolutionaries or radical artists as ineffectual and passé. But can the internet, the postmodernist tool par excellence, be used subversively as a means for creating confronting, cutting edge art? Can there be such a thing as a digital avant-garde? ... read more

Written by Ali Alizadeh on 28-11-2011, 15 user comments

A conversation with Anna Funder

Anna Funder 2Anna Funder is an internationally acclaimed bestselling Australian author whose debut Stasiland recounted the personal stories of people who worked for the East German secret police, and those whose lives were affected and even destroyed by their covert activities. The book won a swag of international prizes. The manuscript of her follow-up first novel, All That I Am, created a sensation at the 2010 Frankfurt Book Fair and will be published in sixteen countries; it premiered in Australia in September. The novel derives from real events in the lives of activists, intellectuals and artists in pre-WW2 Germany. All That I Am begins: ... read more

Written by Boris Kelly on 24-11-2011, No comments

Calling nonfiction writers

NonfictionNowNonfictioNow Conference 2012
RMIT University
Call for Panels

NonfictioNow is one of the most significant gatherings of writers, teachers and readers of nonfiction from around the world. Three full days of panels, screenings and events will centre on the practice, thinking, communication and writing of nonfiction in all its forms to be hosted by RMIT University in November 2012. The Bedell NonfictioNow Conference seeks panels that showcase the diversity of the genre. Panels should have a minimum of three panelists, including the moderator. Panels can explore any aspect of nonfiction ranging from the celebration, discussion or tribute to the work of a particular essayist, or a discussion an aspect of memoir, ethics, the lyric essay, literary journalism, travel writing, food writing or regional writing. Panels that explore nonfiction at or beyond the margins of the literary, such as film, radio and online forms, are also welcome. In addition, a small number of proposed readings will be accepted for the conference. ... read more

Written by Editorial team on 24-11-2011, No comments

Scenes from the world

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Written by Editorial team on 23-11-2011, No comments

End-of-year merriment

To launch issue 205 – the last edition of a thrilling publishing year – and to thank our bloggers, contributors and, especially, our readers for the past 360ish days, Overland is having a merry launch/party. Come to Chez Regine at 6pm on Friday 2 December and let us buy you a drink.

205 cover-200pxWhat about this new issue? we hear you ask excitedly. Superb question! In the new issue:

o Norwegian writer Mattias Gardell examines the Oslo massacre and the rise of the anti-Muslim right in Europe ... read more

Written by Editorial team on 22-11-2011, 2 user comments

Falling through the genre cracks and finding Wonderland

COV_CouriersNewBicycle.inddI know a writer who turns her books face out on the shop shelves wherever and whenever she can, and this week I admit I’ve done my personal equivalent of that: sneaking a copy of my freshly published second novel out of Science Fiction and into the Crime Fiction section of various local bookshops. If I had my druthers, I’d stash another copy under Australian Authors and one in Literary Fiction too, though usually, there aren’t that many copies to spread around – and it would make me too obvious in my nefarious activity. ... read more

Written by Kim Westwood on 18-11-2011, 5 user comments

The Hunger Games and rebellion

Here’s another small straw in the wind.

This is the trailer for The Hunger Games movie.

... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 17-11-2011, 4 user comments

Universities in ruins

etonboys1936Peter Cook once said that nobody had actually read Don Quixote, and though Cervantes might have written it, even he couldn’t be bothered reading it as well. When I heard Cook say this, it relieved me of a great responsibility, that of reading Don Quixote. These days I try never to read any book that weighs more than a brick, but it’s very easy to fill one’s own bookshelves with books that should be read, rather than books that one wants to read and might enjoy.

I still haven’t read Don Quixote, and don’t own a copy so I’m never tempted to try. Gathering a library of books together can be a bit like creating a new family. Biological families, as most of us have hopefully found out, just aren’t enough. Putting together a family of choice that doesn’t in some way replicate the family of origin can be tricky. You can end up accidentally marrying one of your parents (‘You’re just like my mother!’) or squabbling with friends over a variety of objects you’re highly attached to in the same way you used to argue with your brother over who got the GI Joe and who got the Action Man. In the same way we can end up with libraries of books that we hump around for all kinds of reasons other than we enjoy them. ... read more

Written by Stephen Wright on 16-11-2011, 36 user comments

From nowhere

Motorcyclist Marco Simoncelli was killed in the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago. I know because it was trending on Twitter. There was also a motorcycle accident that Friday night, two weeks ago. I know this because I sat in the middle of a four-lane road and held the fallen riderʼs hand. He was wearing a black and red helmet, black motorcycle jacket, pale jeans, matching white socks and white Dunlop Volleys. One shoe had come off and was lying just by him. There was something terribly vulnerable about his foot, in such a clean white sock, there on the asphalt, broken glass twinkling all around.

I was home alone watching The Slap. A Speedo-wearing Alex Dimitriades had just walked into his house, dripping in a bathrobe, thrown his arms up into the air and declared himself to be The King. I was marvelling at this vile character when the dialogue was drowned out by the sound of a motorbike roaring along the road. This wasnʼt unusual on a Friday night. I live right at an intersection on a very busy main road. But this bike was particularly loud. The sound was that of a pelican-sized mosquito approaching ones head. I rolled my eyes in frustration and said aloud, ʻYes, we know you have a very fast bike.ʼ Because it is my custom to address inanimate objects and people that I know can not hear me. Shortly after which there was a sound. A sort of smack, a sort of pop. And then there was nothing. Then there was silence. ... read more

Written by Claire Zorn on 15-11-2011, 2 user comments

A Subscriberthon wrap-up

PrizesOverland would like to offer a gigantic and sincere thank you to everyone who subscribed during the week and a bit that was Subscriberthon. Here in the office, we just employed a highly technical prize-drawing procedure (one involving numbered squares of paper and a bucket) to draw our prizewinners.

So, without further ado, the 2011 Subscriberthon prize winners are:

Major Prizes

Meanland luxury prize pack – Gabrille Bryden
Great Reads Luxury Pack – Matt McDougall
Coffee Lover’s luxury Prize Pack – Michelle Farran

... read more

Written by Editorial team on 14-11-2011, 3 user comments

Polyamory

It’s fair to say that with ever increasing divorce rates (the median duration of marriage in Australia is only 10 years) and louder and louder laments about cheating spouses, the concept of just ‘opening the relationship up’, while challenging, is an idea not without its merits.

So much so that even Hollywood got in on the action by releasing the movie Hall Pass at the start of this year, which was built on the premise of two ‘tolerant’ wives giving their husbands a week of total freedom from their marriages in order to pursue other women.

Panned by critics, the movie was pretty much a flop – and not because of the typically sexist slant of having women grant men freedom, with no reciprocal freedom in return, or for the fact that it was yet another thinly veiled disguise by Hollywood to defend traditional family values. ... read more

Written by Michele Freeman on 14-11-2011, 3 user comments

Meanland: Copyright or wrong?

According to a recent article by Good magazine about 10 percent of American university students plagiarise from Wikipedia. Others, about 8 percent, copy from Yahoo Answers and Slideshare. These figures are based on a recent study released by Turnitin, a software program that academics use to check for plagiarism – you enter a piece of text into the program and it searches the net for a pre-existing version of that text. If the report is to be believed then, plagiarism is on the rise: 55 percent of US College presidents think so anyway. ... read more

Written by John Weldon on 11-11-2011, 17 user comments

Under the hammer

Under the hammer

On Saturday 12 November at 7.30pm, a multidisciplinary activist-artists collective called Under the Hammer will be setting up shop and having a ‘pre-launch’ at 158 Sydney road, Coburg. The pre-launch will include performances by comedian Toby Halligan, spoken word artist Khepa Markhno and 3oB DJ set as well as visual art by Van Rudd. Overland’s Rjurik Davidson spoke to organiser James Crafti.

So you’re starting up a radical cultural space called Under The Hammer. The name comes from a quote from Mayakovsky (sometimes also attributed to Brecht), which reads, ‘Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it’. Can you briefly describe the aim of the space? ... read more

Written by Rjurik Davidson on 11-11-2011, 5 user comments